About the Coffee Shop (list of videos here)
Example:
On 02/20/2021,
in adjunct faculty, corporate universities / corporate training, faculty/staff, ideas, pedagogy, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D,
by Daniel Christian
Excerpt from The Dialogic Learning Weekly #204 — by Tom Barrett • Issue #204
What, So What, Now What?
Three simple questions that pack a punch when explored together. Use this method when reflecting on a shared experience.
The precise split between what is observed and why it might be meaningful is powerful. It helps participants not get lost in the swamp of interpretation, too soon at least!
The outline of the steps below is from Liberating Structures.
- If needed, describe the sequence of steps and show the Ladder of Inference (see below). If the group is 10–12 people or smaller, conduct the debrief with the whole group. Otherwise, break the group into small groups.
- First stage: WHAT? Individuals work 1 min. alone on “What happened? What did you notice, what facts or observations stood out?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
- Salient facts from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–3 min.
- Second stage: SO WHAT? People work 1 min alone on “Why is that important? What patterns or conclusions are emerging? What hypotheses can I/we make?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
- Salient patterns, hypotheses, and conclusions from small groups are shared with the whole group and collected. 2–5 min.
- Third stage: NOW WHAT? Participants work 1 min. alone on “Now what? What actions make sense?” then 2–7 min. in small group. 3–8 min. total.
- Actions are shared with the whole group, discussed, and collected. Additional insights are invited. 2–10 min.
On 02/16/2021,
in colleges, community colleges, cost of getting a degree, curriculum, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future of higher education, game-changing environment, generational differences, higher education, ideas, leadership, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, new business models, online learning, strategy, traditional / tradition, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
The Great Contraction Cuts alone will not be enough to turn colleges’ fortunes around. — from chronicle.com by Lee Gardner
Excerpts:
With higher education facing average revenue losses of 14 percent or more due to Covid-19, the pandemic presents an existential challenge for the hundreds, maybe thousands, of colleges that entered last March with already precarious finances. Every week or so seems to bring new headlines about institutions making jaw-dropping cuts.
…
But slashing budgets alone, experts agree, isn’t enough to survive. Struggling colleges must cut strategically and adapt to a new way of operating, in order to find a way to eventually grow and thrive.
From DSC:
As I mentioned to a friend who wondered about those two words –“grow” and “thrive” in the last sentence above…
For too long many colleges and some universities have not been experimenting with other business models. They didn’t pay attention to the surrounding landscapes and economic realities of the masses. I think some of the institutions out there will grow and thrive — but it will be far fewer institutions who see such growth. SNHU, Arizona State, Western Governors University, and the like have done well. But then again, they thought big as well and did so years ago. They have a major leg up on other institutions.
She has served as a college president for nearly 20 years, and in that time, she has watched students’ view of higher education shift to be predominantly about “the outcome of being prepared for a job,” she says.
Funny how that corresponds directly to the increase in tuition, fees, books, room and board, etc. that took place during that same time.
On 02/07/2021,
in adjunct faculty, business, business side of he, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, dangers of the status quo, digital learning, e-books, e-publishing related items (EPUB and more), education reform, ethics, faculty/staff, future of higher education, higher education, ideas, instructional design, IT in HE, liberal arts, morals/values, pedagogy, student teaching/teacher education, student-related, teaching & learning, trends, United States, universities, vendors, youth,
by Daniel Christian
The Chegg situation is worse than you think — from eliterate.us by Michael Feldstein
Excerpts:
Forbes just ran with an article entitled “This $12 Billion Company Is Getting Rich Off Students Cheating Their Way Through Covid“.
Ouch.
[Per Michael] To sum up:
- Publishers, after selling expensive textbooks to students, sold the answers to the homework questions in those expensive books to Chegg.
- Chegg sells the answers to the questions to the students, who often use them to cheat.
- To combat this problem, universities pay for proctoring software, which is apparently more effective at preventing students from going to the bathroom than it is at preventing cheating.
- To add insult to all of this injury, “to chegg” is now apparently a verb in the English language. We will all have to live with that linguistic violence.
Addendum on 2/9/21:
- Students cheat with online learning service, professors hope to identify users — from dailyemerald.com by Claire Warner
On 02/05/2021,
in 21st century, A/V -- audio/visual, active learning, adjunct faculty, Augmented Reality (AR), colleges, community colleges, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, education technology, emerging technologies, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, graphics, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, legal technologies, liberal arts, library / librarians, media/film, Mixed Reality (MR), multimedia, online learning, online media, online tutoring, platforms, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, science, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, technology (general), telelegal, telemedicine / telehealth / virtual health, telepresence, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, user experience (UX), vendors, vision/possibilities, visualizing information,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
THIS is incredible technology! Check out the Chroma-keying technology and the handwriting extraction feature of the Sony Analytics appliance.
From Sony’s website (emphasis DSC):
No matter where the speaker is standing, the Handwriting Extraction feature ensures that any words and diagrams written on a board or screen remain in full view to the audience — via AR (augmented reality).
Even if the speaker is standing directly in front of the board, their ideas, thinking process, and even their animated presentation, are all accessible to the audience. It’s also easy for remote viewers and those playing back the presentation at a later date to become immersed in the content too, as the presenter is overlaid and the content is never compromised.
Also, the chroma keying tech can be useful/engaging as well.
I saw this at IUPUI’s recent webinar/tour of their new facilities. Here’s further information on that webinar from last Friday, 1/29/21:
Designing Large Active Learning Classrooms webinar/tour on 1/29/21 from the Mosaic Program at Indiana University; also features rooms/staff at IUPUI.
- Recording
- A recent Educause article on Innovation Hall
- A recent article on the opening of Innovation Hall
- And, a post-webinar resource…Michel Jansen wrote a report summarizing the webinar.
On 02/02/2021,
in adjunct faculty, colleges, community colleges, distance education, faculty/staff, higher education, learning, learning ecosystem, online learning, pedagogy, remote teaching and learning, research, student-related, teaching & learning, teaching online, United States, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Join your colleagues to explore the latest online learning research at the QM Research Online Conference
During the FREE half-day virtual event, you will:
- Pick the topics you want to delve into from a number of research-related subjects, including online course videos, the student perspective, QM implementation, and high-impact practices.
- Ask questions of the expert presenters in real-time.
- Discover elements that can be applied to your own practice.
Each session will include a takeaway handout to help you engage with and apply the research-based strategies shared by the presenters.
On 01/29/2021,
in 21st century, Access to Justice (A2J), active learning, adjunct faculty, adult learning, entrepreneurship, faculty/staff, innovation, law schools, Learning Experience Design, Legal operations, legal reform, legal technologies, legislatures / government / legal, pedagogy, productivity / tips and tricks, project-based learning, society, teaching & learning, teaching online, technology (general), telelegal, tools, United States, vendors,
by Daniel Christian
DC: If this chart were to be tackled within a course, it seems to me that the Jigsaw Method could be useful — if not absolutely required.https://t.co/Sx2EFMIIrvhttps://t.co/ehUq1BL3B2#legaltech #legal #law #lawyers #legaloperations #lawschool #pedagogy #teaching pic.twitter.com/wVrYZF377O
— Daniel Christian (he/him/his) (@dchristian5) January 29, 2021
Along the lines of technologies’ potential impact on the legal realm — especially Access to Justice (#A2J), see:
Meet the 27 startups pioneering the Justice Tech market — medium.com by Felicity Conrad
Starting with coining the umbrella term “Justice Tech,” we’re developing a common language, a community of folks working in the space, and formalizing the newly-minted Justice Tech market.
Texas Bar and Paladin Partner to Launch Statewide Pro Bono Portal — from lawsitesblog.com by
Excerpt:
A free online portal launched today in Texas is designed to help lawyers find volunteer opportunities and assist residents of the state find help with their legal needs.
The new portal, Pro Bono Texas, was launched as a partnership between The State Bar of Texas and the justice tech company Paladin. The portal provides volunteer lawyers and law students with a centralized location to search and sign up for pro bono opportunities across the state.
On 01/07/2021,
in adjunct faculty, attention, computer science, data related items, engagement / engaging students, faculty/staff, presentations, teachers, tools, training / L&D, vendors, visualizing information, webinars,
by Daniel Christian
Wonder Tools | The Best Data Viz Tool — from wondertools.substack.com by Jeremy Caplan
How and why to use Flourish to make impressive charts fast and for free
Excerpt:
Flourish is a terrific tool for visualizing data. It’s easy to use and free. Unlike some complex tools aimed at data professionals, Flourish is simple enough for anyone to use. It’s also flexible and polished enough to use in professional newsroom projects. And it comes with a wide range of templates so you can create a strong interactive data visual to embed on any site within a couple of hours.
On 01/04/2021,
in 24x7x365 access, adult learning, blogs / blogging / vlogging, changing business models, colleges, community colleges, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, entrepreneurship, Facebook / Meta Platforms, faculty/staff, higher education, history, ideas, journalism, media/film, platforms, social learning / networks, social media, society, teachers, tools, training / L&D, United States, universities, vendors, writing,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
After seeing the following two items, I wondered…should more professors, teachers, and staff members be on Substack?
Heather Cox Richardson Offers a Break From the Media Maelstrom. It’s Working. — from nytimes.com by Ben Smith
She is the breakout star of the newsletter platform Substack, doing the opposite of most media as she calmly situates the news of the day in the long sweep of American history.
Excerpt:
Last Wednesday, I broke the news to Heather Cox Richardson that she was the most successful individual author of a paid publication on the breakout newsletter platform Substack.
Early that morning, she had posted that day’s installment of “Letters From an American” to Facebook, quickly garnering more than 50,000 reactions and then, at 2:14 a.m., she emailed it to about 350,000 people.
…
The news of her ranking seemed to startle Dr. Richardson, who in her day job is a professor of 19th century American history at Boston College. The Substack leader board, a subject of fascination among media insiders, is a long way from her life on a Maine peninsula — particularly as the pandemic has ended her commute — that seems drawn from the era she studies.
Is Substack the Media Future We Want? — from newyorker.com by Anna Wiener
The newsletter service is a software company that, by mimicking some of the functions of newsrooms, has made itself difficult to categorize.
Excerpt:
…Substack, a service that enables writers to draft, edit, and send e-mail newsletters to subscribers. Writers can choose whether subscriptions are free or paid; the minimum charge for paid subscriptions is five dollars a month or thirty dollars a year, and Substack takes ten percent of all revenue.
On 01/02/2021,
in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, A/V -- audio/visual, adjunct faculty, adult learning, Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, colleges, communications, communities of practice, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, corporate universities / corporate training, Daniel S. Christian, digital audio, digital learning, digital video, distance education, education, education technology, emerging technologies, experimentation, face-to-face, faculty/staff, future, future of higher education, game-changing environment, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, instructional design, intelligent systems, intelligent tutoring, interaction design, interactivity, interface design, IT in HE, K-12 related, law schools, learning, learning agents, learning ecosystem, Learning Experience Design, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, more voice more choice more control, multimedia, Natural Language Processing (NLP), new media literacies, online learning, online media, online tutoring, pace of change, platforms, podcasting, presentations, productivity / tips and tricks, professional development, remote teaching and learning, smart classrooms, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, technologies for your home, tools, training / L&D, transmedia, TVs, universities, usability, user experience (UX), user interface design, vendors, videoconferencing, vision/possibilities, voice recognition / voice enabled interfaces, web-based collaboration, webinars, workplace,
by Daniel Christian
From DSC:
As we move into 2021, the blistering pace of emerging technologies will likely continue. Technologies such as:
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) — including technologies related to voice recognition
- Blockchain
- Augment Reality (AR)/Mixed Reality (MR)/Virtual Reality (VR) and/or other forms of Extended Reality (XR)
- Robotics
- Machine-to-Machine Communications (M2M) / The Internet of Things (IoT)
- Drones
- …and other things will likely make their way into how we do many things (for better or for worse).
Along the positive lines of this topic, I’ve been reflecting upon how we might be able to use AI in our learning experiences.
For example, when teaching in face-to-face-based classrooms — and when a lecture recording app like Panopto is being used — could teachers/professors/trainers audibly “insert” main points along the way? Similar to something like we do with Siri, Alexa, and other personal assistants (“Heh Siri, _____ or “Alexa, _____).
(Image purchased from iStockphoto)
.
Pretend a lecture, lesson, or a training session is moving right along. Then the professor, teacher, or trainer says:
- “Heh Smart Classroom, Begin Main Point.”
- Then speaks one of the main points.
- Then says, “Heh Smart Classroom, End Main Point.”
Like a verbal version of an HTML tag.
After the recording is done, the AI could locate and call out those “main points” — and create a table of contents for that lecture, lesson, training session, or presentation.
(Alternatively, one could insert a chime/bell/some other sound that the AI scans through later to build the table of contents.)
In the digital realm — say when recording something via Zoom, Cisco Webex, Teams, or another application — the same thing could apply.
Wouldn’t this be great for quickly scanning podcasts for the main points? Or for quickly scanning presentations and webinars for the main points?
Anyway, interesting times lie ahead!
On 12/27/2020,
in colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate universities / corporate training, digital learning, distance education, education, educational games / serious games, elearning, faculty/staff, higher education, homeschooling/homeschoolers, ideas, instructional design, K-12 related, law schools, learning, Learning Experience Design, learning theories, memory, online learning, pedagogy, psychology, remote teaching and learning, research, student-related, teachers, teaching & learning, teaching online, training / L&D, universities,
by Daniel Christian
Interleaving: How Mixed Practice Can Boost Learning— from effectiviology.com
Excerpt:
Interleaving is a learning technique that involves mixing together different topics or forms of practice, in order to facilitate learning. For example, if a student uses interleaving while preparing for an exam, they can mix up different types of questions, rather than study only one type of question at a time.
Interleaving, which is sometimes referred to as mixed practice or varied practice, is contrasted with blocked practice (sometimes referred to as specific practice), which involves focusing on only a single topic or form of practice at a time.
Also see:
Also see:
Excerpts:
Interleaving boosts learning by mixing up closely related topics, encouraging discrimination between similarities and differences. (Agarwal & Bain, p. 14)
It’s “re-arranging the order of retrieval opportunities during spacing without changing the content to be learned.” It’s mixing up concepts. (Agarwal & Bain, pgs. 106-107).
Consider this basic example of practice problems in any math course:
Problem Set 1: AAAA BBBB CCCC DDDD [i.e., blocked practice]
Problem Set 2: ABCD BCAD DBAC CBDA [i.e., interleaved practice]
Both have the same practice problems, but they’ve been re-arranged. If letters represented addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, the students need to be able to choose and retrieve the appropriate strategy — vs. plug-and-chug without thinking about which strategy to use.
Also see:
retrievalpractice.org/interleaving
On 12/04/2020,
in Access to Justice (A2J), adjunct faculty, Amazon, Apple, business, change, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, collaboration, colleges, community colleges, content development, aggregation, repositories, corporate / business world, culture, dangers of the status quo, Daniel S. Christian, digital learning, economics, education, education reform, education technology, ethics, Facebook / Meta Platforms, faculty/staff, faith, funding / grants, future, future of higher education, geography / geology, Google, health, higher education, history, homeschooling/homeschoolers, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, internet, IT in HE, K-12 related, leadership, learning, learning ecosystem, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, learning hubs & pods & microschooling, learning spaces, legislatures / government / legal, lifelong learning, Michigan, Microsoft, mobile technologies, MOOCs -- Massive Open Online Courses, morals/values, new media literacies, online learning, platforms, policy, remote teaching and learning, society, student-related, surviving, technologies for your home, telecommunications, ubiquitous learning, United States, universities, vendors, videoconferencing, virtual field trips, virtual K-12 schools, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, vision/possibilities, web-based collaboration, youth,
by Daniel Christian
The Digital Divide for Tribal College Students — COVID, CARES Act, and Critical Next Steps — from diverseeducation.com
Excerpt:
In this episode staff writer Sara Weissman shares a story that focuses on the digital divide for Native Americans by bringing in voices of tribal college leaders and their students during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Many don’t know but Native American colleges and universities have long struggled with the worst internet connectivity in the nation while ironically paying the highest rates for service. Hear first-hand how students from Diné College and other institutions are currently affected. Carrie Billie (Big Water Clan), President & CEO of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) and Dr. Cynthia Lindquist (Star Horse Woman), President of Cankdeska Cikana Community College in North Dakota, break down the data and lay out critical next steps necessary to address the digital divide.
Many don’t know but Native American colleges and universities have long struggled with the worst internet connectivity in the nation while ironically paying the highest rates for service.
From DSC:
When will there be justice!? Let’s join in and make amends and provide the funding, concrete assistance, products, and services to Native American colleges, universities, and communities. Some potential ideas:
- For the short term, could there be Loon balloons deployed immediately to provide free and stronger access to the Internet?
- Could our Federal Government make amends and do the right thing here? (e-rate program, put Internet access in, make policy changes, offer more grants, other?)
- Could Silicon Valley assist with hardware and software? For example:
- Can Apple, HP, Microsoft, and others donate hardware and software?
- Can Zoom, Adobe, Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, and others donate whatever these communities need to provide videoconferencing licenses?
- Could telecom providers provide free internet access?
- Could MOOCs offer more free courses?
- Could furniture makers such as Steelcase, Herman Miller, and others donate furniture and help establish connected learning spaces?
- How might faculty members and staff within higher education contribute?
- How could churches, synagogues, and such get involved?
- Could the rest of us locate and donate to charities that aim to provide concrete assistance to Native American schools, colleges, universities, and communities?
We need to do the right thing here. This is another area* where our nation can do much better.
* Here’s another example/area where we can do much better and make amends/changes.
Addendum on 12/7/20:
- How to Implement Long-Term Remote Learning in a Rural Area— from techlearning.com by Ray Bendici